For those readers of MassTortDefense who confront issues of punitive damages in their practice, a recently released book is worth a look:  DRI’s Punitive Damages: A State-by-State Compendium (2009).

The book is a new compendium of the law of all fifty states, the District of Columbia and all Canadian provinces regarding punitive damages. This publication also contains a number of articles focused on recent trends in this area of the law. The book outlines each state’s law and procedure regarding punitive damages. Topics include: Leading cases and statutes in each state; the level of conduct required to trigger an award of punitive damages; product liability causes of action for which punitive damages are recoverable; special rules applicable to particular types of products, classes of products, or defendants; pleading requirements; bifurcation/
phasing procedures; limits of permissible discovery; state-specific defenses; and post-trial procedures.

Your humble blogger served as Co-Managing Editor/Atlantic Region Editor (but no royalties are involved!)